Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[STLmapboy]

While exploring around, I found that the most recent street view imagery in Anchorage from October 2019 is absolutely terrible. Compare it with the 2009 imagery, and it's worse in almost every way.

https://www.google.com/maps/@61.2146283,-149.8996004,3a,78.6y,59.78h,89.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s33Ch-9l2_5bvQmQlGjn5PA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

How did they even manage that?

We waited 8 years for shit like that?
On a side note, it's nice to see Alaska bulking up its mast arms (compare this from 2019 to this from 2009.)

[vdeane]

While exploring around, I found that the most recent street view imagery in Anchorage from October 2019 is absolutely terrible. Compare it with the 2009 imagery, and it's worse in almost every way.

https://www.google.com/maps/@61.2146283,-149.8996004,3a,78.6y,59.78h,89.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s33Ch-9l2_5bvQmQlGjn5PA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

How did they even manage that?

To be fair, that's probably the best 2009 imagery I've ever seen on Google.

There's actually a fair amount of good 2009 imagery, but most of it is outside the US.

[Michael]

I was just looking around in Street View, and noticed that there are now clickable icons over businesses.  I assumed (and was hoping) this was an A/B test, and it turns out that it is.  The picture in the article is similar to what I saw.  I took a quick look at Developer Tools to see if I could add a filter to my ad blocker to block the icons, but I couldn't use "pick element" nor did I see any obvious DIV I could block.  Thankfully, the icons disappear completely when I move my mouse out of the part of my screen with Street View on it.  While writing this post, I tried clearing my cookies, and that made the icons go away for now.

About a month ago, I saw another A/B test I forgot to mention in my last post.  When right-clicking the map, the coordinates of the spot I right-clicked on were listed at the top of the menu.  I liked that, but it only happened once.

On a side note, Maps is now always taking all my CPU again.  It started happening literally right after making my previous post saying it was sometimes better.

[jakeroot]

We waited 8 years for shit like that?
On a side note, it's nice to see Alaska bulking up its mast arms (compare this from 2019 to this from 2009.)

Do you have like a fetish for thick mast arms? This is the second time I've seen you bring this up in a matter of days 

[ftballfan]

In My Maps, there is no way to have a line stick to a road without using the Directions mode. Years ago, there used to be a way to do so

[paulthemapguy]

Could someone explain to stupid fucking Google that white symbology on a white background makes their maps literally unreadable?

[Rothman]

Still ticked they took away the ability to print turn-by-turn maps with your directions.

[jakeroot]

Could someone explain to stupid fucking Google that white symbology on a white background makes their maps literally unreadable?

Could be your screen. Some people have the contrast way up and that seems to screw with it. For me it's perfectly readable, and actually preferable to other colors because the contrast between every single street and the background is far less jarring than if the colors were something stronger.

The major streets are still a thicker white and the major, major roads are still stronger yellows. I personally like it right now.

[vdeane]

I've noticed that monitor age makes a difference too.  Newer monitors seem to be designed brighter than older monitors, which look very dark if the contrast ins't turned all the way up.  It can turn into a choice between legible Google Maps and a monitor that is bright enough for anything else to look decent.

[BridgesToIdealism]

Okay, so in a similar manner to how Google won't let you get directions involving temporarily closed roads, here's another even more bizarre one to ponder over:

The World Trade International Toll Bridge in Laredo, Texas (future I-69W) is currently only open to commercial vehicles (passenger cars need to use the two bridges downtown). However, Google will not let you get directions involving the World Trade Bridge at all - it basically treats it like a closed road. What the hell? How on earth does Google know whether you are getting directions for a commercial vehicle that is permitted or not? Answer: It doesn't. This is beyond stupid. Just allow the use of the World Trade Bridge in directions for crying out loud... perhaps mark it as a "restricted usage road" if you want to make a fuss, but don't completely prevent its usage.

[STLmapboy]

Okay, so in a similar manner to how Google won't let you get directions involving temporarily closed roads, here's another even more bizarre one to ponder over:

The World Trade International Toll Bridge in Laredo, Texas (future I-69W) is currently only open to commercial vehicles (passenger cars need to use the two bridges downtown). However, Google will not let you get directions involving the World Trade Bridge at all - it basically treats it like a closed road. What the hell? How on earth does Google know whether you are getting directions for a commercial vehicle that is permitted or not? Answer: It doesn't. This is beyond stupid. Just allow the use of the World Trade Bridge in directions for crying out loud... perhaps mark it as a "restricted usage road" if you want to make a fuss, but don't completely prevent its usage.

I noticed that the other day--if you click on of the marks there (I think on the Mexican side) it says "permanently closed." It's obviously not.

[vdeane]

It's because Google is not catering to people like us - it's catering to people who just want to plug in a destination and follow whatever directions are given.  We're lucky they still allow us to modify directions at all.

I'm actually surprised they're allowing directions over the US/Canada border... but maybe they don't want to break it for people with essential trips.

[kphoger]

I'm actually surprised they're allowing directions over the US/Canada border... but maybe they don't want to break it for people with essential trips.

Is the border closed to Canadian citizens returning from the US?

[webny99]

I believe Canadian citizens can enter Canada (and vice versa) as long as they quarantine for two weeks.

[kphoger]

I believe Canadian citizens can enter Canada (and vice versa) as long as they quarantine for two weeks.

Crap!  Canada can enter Canadian citizens and stay there for two weeks??

[webny99]

Canada COVID-19 can enter Canadian citizens and stay there for two weeks??

Not Canada itself, but another C-word, yes.

I thought it was obvious what vice versa meant in this context. When will I ever learn not to take that bet on this forum?

[kphoger]

When will I ever learn not to take that bet on this forum?

When nerds stop being pedantic.

[jakeroot]

I would guess that roughly 1/10 posts are people correcting other people over minor niggles (correct something tiny, making a point that doesn't need making/not relevant). Drives me up the fucking wall.

[STLmapboy]

I would guess that roughly 1/10 posts are people correcting other people over minor niggles (correct something tiny, making a point that doesn't need making/not relevant). Drives me up the fucking wall.

You don't say?

poop

[BridgesToIdealism]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but one of my biggest other pet peeves is that for whatever reason, the "Tunnel" category for place listing seems to no longer exist/be valid, so for any new tunnels that have not yet been added to the map, you have to list them as "bridges". Weird. On those same lines, has anyone else noticed the number of nonexistent categories that are being used by places? If you go into the form to edit a place, sometimes the category that it is currently listed as will be an invalid one, yet as long as you don't touch the "category" field it lets you keep it. Of course, if you touch the category field it will then say that the category is invalid.

Perhaps along similar lines but not exactly... how many other people have noticed the sheer number of places that have fake phone numbers? While I haven't actually tried to call them and see if they went anywhere, it is physically impossible to call a bridge or a tunnel or to call a toll booth, and yet many bridges, tunnels, and toll plazas have phone numbers in their listings. Even if its the phone number of the management authority, it doesn't belong on the actual infrastructure - it belongs on the authority headquarters office. Yet all too often Google doesn't let you remove them either... they don't even make it into the review queue. Any edits to that effect automatically get bounced back as "Not Applied - Google couldn't verify your edit".

...Which brings me to my third point for this post. I really don't think that the folks at Google are manually reviewing every single edit that is submitted to the map. I think that the vast majority of the edits are checked by a robot/computer software, and if the robot is unsure, it gets bumped back for human review. Therefore, many edits, such as simply correcting misplaced map markers, will get automatically approved. More complex edits that change multiple things at once will often get suck in the "Pending review" queue. For some reason, renaming places that either have typos or punctuation errors, and/or are outright wrong, seems to always get automatically rejected by the robot without any human review.

[ozarkman417]

It appears Google has added a feature (or I'm just noticing it) to GSV to better locate businesses while in that mode. Of course, this is bound to be troublesome with outdated imagery or recent changes to the area.

A good example of this new feature:

[Big John]

I can't find the man icon to bring me to street view.

[jakeroot]

I can't find the man icon to bring me to street view.

The pegman is in the bottom right. Can you share a screenshot?

[Big John]

I got the pegman today.

[kphoger]

I am the eggman.